Punchy Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Why they didn't listen many posts, so why would we fighting them change anything. IT's decided by the EA accountants. Either merge to US or unsub. Lets hope they don't screw over guilds. Gotta feel For Notorious Synergy(imp) and TEHEE(pub) on Dalborra as they have the most PVE progression on Dalborra. Considering NS were the second in the world to do the hidden boss in TFB HM its kinda sad that so much history from one server will be gone. The Dalborra community is awesome and will be sadly missed. TEHEE is sad to see the transfers. You will be missed, Aurojiin. So very missed. /hug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rincewend Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Hey everyone, To clarify a bit more about this decision. We did previously ask what folks on the forums would like to do as an APAC solution and some, but not all, offered up the solution of merging all APAC into one. The other option on the table was to merge APAC into the NA servers. When we discussed the options internally we looked to address everyone’s primary issues with APAC, low populations were creating a less than optimal game experience. We went and looked at what current server populations looked like across all of APAC and to put it simply, even merging all of APAC together into one server would not solve the population problems. Even with that solution you would still see long queue times for things like Warzones and Group Finder. It was because of this that we decided that moving APAC into the NA servers was the best option. One thing to note is that there is no catchall solution here. If we move APAC to NA some folks will see increased latency, but they will have healthy server populations and can remain on their chosen server types. If we merge everyone into one APAC server, latency will remain in place but the current population issues will exist and players will lose their preferred server type. Leaving things as they are leaves all of the current issues in place without a solution at all. This is one of the reasons getting the plan out to you folks took so long, we had to think long and hard about all of the implications of our decision. -eric Thanks for the anwer eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZinBladez Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 The least they could do is front up and admit this merger was more about cutting costs than improving the playing experience of APAC players. They dont need to. It has been a reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZinBladez Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 oh settle down, stop being a self righteous tool. Im an aussie, BW tried, the game didnt go aswell as they wanted, it got rationalised. Big deal, move on. THYE TRIED? are you a bioware employee?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKSmash Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Hey everyone, One thing to note is that there is no catchall solution here. If we move APAC to NA some folks will see increased latency, but they will have healthy server populations and can remain on their chosen server types. If we merge everyone into one APAC server, latency will remain in place but the current population issues will exist and players will lose their preferred server type. Leaving things as they are leaves all of the current issues in place without a solution at all. This is one of the reasons getting the plan out to you folks took so long, we had to think long and hard about all of the implications of our decision. -eric Except that a catchall solution is exactly what you're giving us. Your solution is to dump us all into a NA server, whether we like it or not. My problem with this is not server ping or latency, it's the community itself. I have played on NA servers on multiple games and I have never found one I enjoyed. Not a single one. These days I go out of my way to avoid playing on NA servers and will often choose a Euro server (with worse latency etc) just so I don't have to play with a NA community. And I know for a fact that I am far from the only Oceanic player who dislikes using NA servers. I would have been much happier if you said you would open a new "Oceanic" server based in NA that we could all join together if we chose (which is one of the solutions we asked for at launch during the "Red Zone Crisis", btw). For my money I hope you are working hard on Public Character Transfers, because I will be transferring OFF whatever NA server you push me onto as soon as possible. I am DKSmash, and I still live in the Red Zone! Live well and Shoot straight Oceania! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PseudoScience Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 What was the point of the whole APAC launch last March? You made the Oceanic community wait 3 months after the North Americans to get the game and set up our servers, just to shut them down now? FAIL BIOWARE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyDrusilla Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Worst possible solution as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to have to seriously review whether I stay subscribed. One of the huge draws for me was the very low latency I was experiencing, one fifth of what I get on a NA server. Now that tehre is F2P I think it would have been preferable to at least offer Australians player transfers back to the Australian servers to try and get people to move back. It may not have worked but at least we would have had a shot at keeping our own servers. Very, very disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elysiah Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 So, not sure if this is allowed, but I did notice that as long as it is not for profit or abusive a certain other survey was allowed on these forums recently. So here is a PETITION TO KEEP THE LOCAL APAC SERVERS AND MERGE THEM INTO ONE. Sign it if you agree and pass it on to your guildies/friends etc. At least we may get some idea of the numbers for this solution. PETITION FOR MERGER OF 3 APAC SERVERS INTO 1 (On a similar note, how hard would it be for BW to include a survey in game upon everyones next log in where they just have to click their favourite option for server merges? Sounds pretty simple) Oh wow. A petition? Because that's going to do anything lol. They wouldn't of posted that we're getting moved to the American servers unless they were certain of doing it. A petition won't do anything but waste your time lol. They don't care what you all think about it and frankly I think it's childish the reaction you're all giving. Sure a merge would have been sweet but for such low populations in apac servers it wouldn't be worth the money keeping a server in Australia. The ping increase won't be as bad as you're crying about and we get to play in servers that have people in it. I'm glad they're sending my characters to servers where there won't be huge wait queues. Good luck trying to make eaware care about a few list subs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirjalax Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Make a placeholder character for now, and then delete it when (or a few hours before) they do the transfers. thanks vian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saaz Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Ok, so we have an answer right. As far as I remember, APAC Servers were originally created due to the gameplay experience being no good when trying to operate off NA servers from the Asia region. Bioware - you realised this at launch - what has happened since? Obviously there has been no technical improvements to the engine, so you know this decision will result in a sub-optimal gameplay experience. Having played since EGA on American servers, the whole experience was awful. Indeed recently I was in the states trying to link back to Aussie servers and at 250 ping, the game engine really struggles under the pressure. PvP in the main is unplayable. I really don't want to unsub. I love this game. I want to keep playing - so help me out here. Are there any intended engine refinements that can be made to improve the gameplay experience or are we hamstrung at 250 ping in pvp? Are there any technical tips like getting a tunneller which would improve the gameplay experience? Or better still - can you please reconsider this decision in light of an Aussie server merge - Dalborra works well at the moment and is likely to see a jump in subs with RoTHC. Add MDN and GD to Dalborra!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyDrusilla Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Could we at least have name changes given on who made their character first? Because all my character names re taken on the destination server for my current server and I made them on day one of the APAC servers going up. I will not be impressed at having to rename all my characters just because I'm being forced to merge into a bloody American server. I've subscribed since day one, I've defended SWTOR against the obscene hate campaign waged against it but this is just draconian and completely disheartening. I'd rather play on a low population APAC server than have this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aVmuse Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Thanks dude, these people are just need to get the sand out of their Vag and they'll be right. "ERMMAAGERRRDD PING IS TOO HIGH, UNSUBBING DUE TO NOT BEING ABLE TO PVP COMPETITIVELY AND I WILL LOSE MY TOONS NAME AND I NO LONGER HAVE TO WAIT 1HR + FOR GP AND PVP MATCHES" Seriously that is the message im getting from these people haha So we have to give up our latency which is a factor for online games, for a solution that doesn't benefit a majority of Dalborra a least. I bet you've never had to deal with being bull******* by lag, but then again you're probably a low latency privileged, yet stupid American who wouldn't understand what its like to play online games outside your own country. Also it's not 1hr+ queues for pvp on Dalborra, but HURR DUURRRR IM AMERICAN I KNOW EVERYTHING. And also I have played on American servers and the lag sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icykill_ Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (edited) Hey everyone, the best solution, that will offer the best long term play experience, is to merge the APAC servers with higher populated North American servers. We will then offer Free Character Transfers to anyone currently playing on an APAC server to a North American server of the same gameplay type, specifically: Mastar Dar’Nala (PvP) will transfer to The Bastion (PvP)Gav Daragon (RP-PvE) will transfer to Begeren Colony (RP-PvE)Dalborra (PvE) will transfer to The Harbinger (PvE) We will also need to update our server merge technology at which point we will ultimately merge each of the APAC servers into the corresponding North American servers as indicated above. -eric Is this going to increase Latency or "Lag" in the game? or are the current APAC servers already situated in America. I know when the game was released, many Australians and NZ's played on the US servers and reported they had higher "Lag" in PVP when playing against American players. EDIT - FOUND THE ANSWER and have reposted further on Edited March 26, 2013 by Icykill_ Found Answer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vian Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 BW, can you at least give priority for transferring character names over inactive accounts and F2P? There really needs to be a name releasing policy going forward. Now, how would you propose doing this? Seriously. How do you tell when an inactive account is dead, or when it's just dormant? Suppose you have been inactive, but you're coming back for Makeb (or you only play some times, or you've been really busy, but you want to make time later, or whatever); should you automatically get kicked just because someone else also thought of your name? You both pay your subs, you've both invested (to whatever extent) in your characters. Someone has to lose out. I'm not saying that's fair; indeed, it's a major failing of not allowing non-unique names in the system (that, and the fact that there can only be one John in the galaxy ... ). But trying to fix it by arbitrating when an account can be deemed to have been abandoned is NOT going to help. And it's even more problematic for F2P people who might be playing their little fingers to the bone on one of their two alts. Subscribers get 16 alts; you may have to change some names, but half? Or if you're really unlucky, All? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thornsbane Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I cant believe they actually chose what was clearly the last option that we all wanted..... I actually dont think I will be able to continue playing on NA servers as I pvp a lot. Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raekor Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I think trying to justify it was a poor idea. You should have just come out and said, "Even a single APAC server is not financially viable so we are dumping them all." Trying to justify forcing APAC players onto NA servers when the majority wanted either a single APAC server merge or free for all transfers was a bad idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriMastering Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I sure hope Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk step in to turn this decision around ... What's that? They've unsubscribed already too? ... dang I wonder if the two people who are for this are on the EA payroll ... Cause everyone else thinks this sucks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knockerz Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Harbinger was the unofficial PvE server for APAC at launch and it worked fine. Lots of Aussies on during the non-peak hours to US and vice versa. The server was always busy and it made for great populations for US players who worked night shifts and played closer to Aussie hours. Many of us missed the Aussies when they moved to APAC local servers, and we are enjoying their returning population over the last 3-4 months. I know this has probably not dawned on some of the posters here... but it would be pretty easy to track the unofficial migration of Aussie accounts to US servers by Bioware using their analytics suite over the last 3-6 months. Personally, I think they saw a trend and leaned into that trend rather then try to fight it with a 3-2-1 merger locally to APAC. /2-cents Quote for truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paelo Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (edited) Hey everyone, To clarify a bit more about this decision. We did previously ask what folks on the forums would like to do as an APAC solution and some, but not all, offered up the solution of merging all APAC into one. The other option on the table was to merge APAC into the NA servers. When we discussed the options internally we looked to address everyone’s primary issues with APAC, low populations were creating a less than optimal game experience. We went and looked at what current server populations looked like across all of APAC and to put it simply, even merging all of APAC together into one server would not solve the population problems. Even with that solution you would still see long queue times for things like Warzones and Group Finder. It was because of this that we decided that moving APAC into the NA servers was the best option. One thing to note is that there is no catchall solution here. If we move APAC to NA some folks will see increased latency, but they will have healthy server populations and can remain on their chosen server types. If we merge everyone into one APAC server, latency will remain in place but the current population issues will exist and players will lose their preferred server type. Leaving things as they are leaves all of the current issues in place without a solution at all. This is one of the reasons getting the plan out to you folks took so long, we had to think long and hard about all of the implications of our decision. -eric Don't insult us. It's one thing to string us along and lie you your PAYING customers, just so you can stretch things out until the lease on the APAC servers expires, it's another to think we're stupid enough not to see what you did and swallow this "we just want to make everyone happy" tripe. If you were really listening to the community you would have fixed the server issue like this - 1. Combine all three APAC servers into one super server for the MAJORITY of players who want to keep their low ping. 2. Offer transfers to people for a period of time, so that the smaller group who would rather play on their preferred server type and put up with high ping are also happy. See how that works? Everyone happy. Please feel free to explain to us Eric, why this isn't the solution you're using. Edited March 26, 2013 by Paelo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeTone Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (edited) From a player who enjoys good latency on APAC and a reasonably healthy population on Dalborra, BW have decided to implement THE WORST POSSIBLE solution for myself and my guild. There was no way on earth BW was going to merge the servers. Thanks BW and thanks to all the cry babies ITT - now we all get shafted. Can't say I didn't see it coming. Goodbye <200 ping. We hardly knew ye. Edited March 26, 2013 by LeeTone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaftVaduhhh Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (edited) For those who keep talking about server leases, these are usually 3/6/12/24 month deals, which doesn't match up with the current time frame (3&6 months excepted). Additionally, I think the only thing that would be leased would be the building that's housing the servers and the connection. Everything else would likely be owned. Edited March 26, 2013 by DaftVaduhhh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyDrusilla Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Made a character to check the ping on one of the destination servers. 200-270 range, not terrible for PvE but noticeable and that's assuming it doesn't get worse at times. I'd imagine it would be worse for PvP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thornsbane Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 lol moving us to a server that will be empty for us again because eveyone is asleep when we are awake. Great thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elysiah Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 lol moving us to a server that will be empty for us again because eveyone is asleep when we are awake. Great thinking. Not true, healthy amount of American players on after their peak times. I'd much rather play on American servers with my mains. Beats playing on dead servers with a bit better ping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZinBladez Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (On a similar note, how hard would it be for BW to include a survey in game upon everyones next log in where they just have to click their favourite option for server merges? Sounds pretty simple) Sounds like something that would cost them money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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